Hug it Out
by Unicorn of Castiel
Summary: I think we can all agree Bucky Barnes needs a hug. The Avengers think so too - and they will hunt him down one by one.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTE: CIVIL WAR SPOILERS! Seeing as I can't hug Bucky myself I figured it was about time he got the love he deserves. He can get by with a little help from his friends. And sort out the painful chaos that was Civil War while I'm at it.**

* * *

"Hug him, dammit!"

"Language, Rogers." Usually the mockery was playful. Tony's face was set and cold now. The kind of look that suggested he knew a million ways he could beat you to death with a cheese grater – but was just trying to decide which one would be the best way to use on you.

"You agreed to work with him! You wouldn't have done that if you weren't at least beginning to-"

"I agreed to work with him for _one mission_ because he's useful. The minute he becomes expendable you can't expect me to sit down and braid the hair of the monster who _killed my mother."_

"Hydra killed your parents Tony, there's just no one left for you to take it out on."

"You're wrong actually. There's one person left, and he drank the last of my juice."

"That was me, actually." Clint corrected. He and Nat stood in front of Bucky, having stopped him from lashing back at Tony after Stark had punched him in the face. Steve had pulled Tony away, leading to the current argument. Bucky stood behind the master assassins, nose bloody, arms folded - stoic and silent as usual, but looking a little sick as he kept his head down and glanced between Steve and Tony.

"Not surprising." Tony said. "It's a wonder that new arm of his has any grip at all."

"If you think it's that bad then make him a new one." Steve fought back. Tony scoffed. Bucky's new arm wasn't _that_ bad. It looked identical to the old one, minus the communist star. T'challa had put his best people onto creating a new one. It worked pretty well. Almost as well as Hydra's science. Not as good as Tony's. Tony liked to point that out. "If you hug him it will make you feel better."

"Steve - " Bucky began. He wasn't a fan of this plan either.

"You wanted to work with him because he's useful. You can't work with someone if you're going to keep punching them in the face. Hug him. Neutralize the threat."

"Ah!" Tony broke out in a smile. "So you admit he's a threat?"

"Not as much as you are right now." Steve rebutted. Tony rolled his eyes, turning to Clint and Natasha.

"Back me up guys. You might not want me to rip his throat out but you've gotta admit Steve's being ridiculous."

Clint and Natasha shared a glance. Nat turned back to Tony, voice as nonchalant as usual.

"I think you should hug."

Tony's fury redirected to her. Natasha shrugged.

"C'mon Stark, I agreed with you once. It's not gonna happen again any time soon."

Tony wasn't the only one surprised by Natasha's declaration. Bucky was also looking at her with a fierce plea of _why? WHY!_

"Seriously? I already apologized for trying to choke you and shooting you twice."

Tony interrupted before Nat could reply.

"Oh well if he _apologized_ that makes everything better. I didn't realize Barnes was _sorry_ about killing my parents. I've clearly been out of line this entire time."

"None of you seemed to have a problem accepting Nat in the group. Same thing happened to her." Clint pointed out. Apparently deeming Bucky and Tony safe where they were, he leaned against the kitchen counter and twirled a pen in his fingers. "Y'know, different mind games I guess and just…less ice. More limbs."

It was Clint's turn to get the look from Bucky that implied the people on his side didn't know the definition of a delicate topic.

"Thanks for that."

Clint beamed back at him. Nat continued his argument.

"It's not like Barnes is the only one here with red on their ledger. The difference between you and him, Stark, is that he didn't get a choice in whether he set the bombs off or not."

A line in Tony's jaw pounced.

"Don't fight dirty, Romanov. I changed Stark industries."

"And Bucky's not changing?" Steve insisted. Tony had fizzled down a little bit, which wasn't common for him, but he was remarkably outnumbered. " _Hug him."_

Tony burst into another string or protests but was bombarded with;  
"Just hug him."  
"Hug him."  
"You know you want to."  
"It'll calm you down."  
"Look at that face."  
"Hug him!"

Tony's fury grew until their insistence snapped him.

"FINE!"

Tony flung his arms around the Winter Soldier without thinking about what he was doing. _As long as it shuts them up!_ The room went quiet. Bucky patted him on the back awkwardly. Glaring at Steve over Iron Man's shoulder. Tony didn't look any less angry to the outside world - but he couldn't help but feel a little… comforted. He still loathed Barnes – he just didn't get hugs that often, especially since Pepper had left. With everything that had been going on, the loss of his parents resurfacing, Tony had needed comforting. He hadn't even realized it.

Tony pushed himself away and kept his hands in fists. Bucky stared at him. He knew those murders hadn't been _him_ exactly. He knew it didn't matter how sorry he was, anyway. After what he'd done to Tony he couldn't pretend he didn't feel heavy under the weight of the Winter Soldier. It kicked him in the gut every time he looked at him. Tony's jaw jumped again.

"You're a monster, Barnes, and a murderer."

It shouldn't have bothered him. Bucky knew they were just two facts. Two facts that rolled around his head every day. They'd found a way to fix the words buried in his mind that would turn him back into a blank slate. Not that it mattered much, most of his life had been spent as the Soldier. That had left him with a lot of skills and baggage he didn't want.

"I know."

Tony stormed out of the room. Talking to FRIDAY about plans for building a new arm. Steve looked immensely smug.

That was the day the Avengers learnt that James Buchanan Barnes gave magical hugs.

* * *

The following weeks were a bombardment of affection to the great menace to society, the assassin with hundreds of kills to his name, the cold and ruthless killer that was the Winter Soldier. Tony wasn't the only one who had needed comforting. Pepper had left a few months ago. Bucky had been dead to everyone who'd loved him for decades - and Hydra masterminds weren't all that soft and fuzzy towards their weapons to say the least.

Steve Rogers, in all the grace that was Captain America, tripped over a pile of laundry. Bucky rolled his eyes as the others in the room made jokes, and stopped stirring the sugar into his coffee to offer his hand out to his friend. Steve grinned, effectively tackling him across the room the minute he got to his feet with a lot of; "You need this." And "You've been through so much." in his fits of his laughter.  
Bucky was grateful he was holding his coffee in his metal hand, there was only so long you could skid across a room without spilling a hot drink.

When Bucky dragged himself into the kitchen to get a protein bar. Scott Lang jumped out of the high cupboard and threw himself at the assassin's forehead, growing to full size to wrap his arms around him. He didn't say anything. Bucky kept his eyes wide. That was one long hug.

In the middle of the night, after a particularly nasty batch of nightmares, Bucky tried to get a glass of water in peace. The sound of wire rattling against something in the ceiling alerted him. Clint was already stood behind him by the time Bucky turned around. He took him in his arms before Bucky could do anything else.  
"You're okay." Clint soothed. He was in his full suit and everything, waiting in his nest for god knows how long.  
"I think you took this a little too seriously." Bucky mumbled.  
" _Shh."_

Wanda wasn't as clandestine. Or so Bucky thought. She chased him around the kitchen before The Vision came through the back wall and trapped him in his arms, nuzzling the crook of his neck. Wanda laughed and took him in what became known as the Vanda sandwich.

Natasha was the only one who dared to get _really_ stealthy about it. She was quiet. Pouncing at him from behind when he was walking down a hallway. Jumping and wrapping her legs around his head like it was an inside joke. Bucky's instincts kicked in and he tried to flip his attacker over. He still struggled when he realized who it was, killer mode off, because by this point he'd been tackled by a lot of the avengers in their attempts to get their hugs in. Nat managed to push him onto the floor. Bucky lay defeated. Nat let out a deadpan "There, there" before getting back on her feet. She walked away cackling "it looks like I fell for you." And finding herself a little too funny.

Sam was on the other side of the kitchen, yawning over his porridge, clad in dressing gown and bed socks. Bucky leaned over a newspaper, trying to find the actual news through celebrity gossip. _Slliiippppp._ Sam thudded into a hug behind him, having skidded across the kitchen on his socks to get him. He leaned his head against his back and sighed.  
"Steve paid me to do this."

"BARNES!" Bucky hadn't even met Thor before he saw the Norse God charging across the Avengers' field. By this point the super soldier just closed his eyes and accepted his fate. Thor caught him in a bone crushing hug. The God bounced him up and down in the air until he laughed. He laughed until he could barely breathe, even once he was released. Through the tears in his eyes he saw the other Avengers grumble or hold out their hands with smug faces as they exchanged their bet money. Apparently they'd decided his hugs might be magical, but his laughter was as rare as Vibranium.

 **AUTHORS NOTE: I didn't include Spider-man in this because A. He's probably still in Queens and B. I ran out of ways to hug someone. Same goes for Rhodey (although he's probably not in Queens) This one shot is a lot longer than originally intended. I'll probably come back to edit it some day because I think it needs work. Please review with feedback and all that though.**

* * *

…

Bucky thought it was over. It should have been over. No one knew where Bruce Banner was. T'challa was in Wakanda. Rhodey spending time with family. All the Avengers had hunted him down. All the Avengers had gripped him tight to comfort his soul. Bucky was alone, ready to leave the Avengers' gym. Nat had been the only one to really surprise him with her hug. The Winter Soldier had made him alert, prepared for anything, given him a hyper-awareness in his senses. The gym was quiet. The gym was empty.

Apart from a short shot of blue. A man catapulted into him. Wrapping his arms around him. Patting him on the back.

"Who - ?" Bucky began.

When the reply came back he sounded a lot like Wanda.

"Hear you fell off a train. It sucks to die, doesn't it?"

With that – and another shot of blue – the stranger was gone.


	2. Revenge

**AUTHORS NOTE: Apparently I'm back! This is one of my favorite stories I've written - and the third person asked me for another chapter to this story and ideas suddenly started coming. So here it is. More Marvel hugs to plaster everyone's Civil War pain. I may have let three ships get the better of me in this chapter but you can never have too much Avengers lovin'.**

* * *

Bucky was exhausted. And kind of grateful – but mainly exhausted. So what if all those hugs had made him feel a little less like a monster? So what if they reminded him that after so much hurt and violence and ice, there were physical actions that didn't hurt people? That there was friendship and kindness and warmth? So what. He lived with The Avengers. He was the newbie. All those things were true – but the Avengers had also done it to convey that they were not to be messed with. Bucky Barnes had some face to save.

Steve seemed like a pretty safe place to start. He was too grateful that he'd gotten his friend back to get too angry at Bucky. _Or at least something close to his friend is back, Bucky Barnes died when he fell off a train._ Bucky tried to keep his daily identity crisis for later and listened to the growing mayhem outside the airing cupboard door. Bucky liked the warm after so long in the ice – but it heated up his arm and Steve's shield so much that he just wanted his best friend to realize it was missing already.  
When Steve did realize his shield was gone. All the Avengers helped find it. When they realized Bucky was the only one who wasn't there – the question as to whether they should get the metal detectors out was answered.  
 _Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.  
_ Bucky was grateful Steve was the one to open the door. He jumped out at him, dropping the shield, and taking him into a hug. For a moment Steve shook his head – annoyed that he'd had to worry about his shield for _this._ It wasn't long before he broke into laughter.

It was Clint who suggested they play Twister.  
Half the team called him an idiot.  
Half the team thought it was a great idea.  
Nobody expected Bucky to fall into the latter group. In the end, Clint sulked over being landed with the job of spinning the arrow because _he looked at arrows all day._  
"Barnes. Left hand yellow," He demanded. "And you can't detach it this time."  
"Fine." Bucky feigned reluctance, but stretched his arm over The Vision to place it next to Wanda's hand on another yellow circle.  
"Oh good god I'm falling down!" Bucky's voice was flat. He crumpled over Wanda and the Vision, wrapping his arms around them when they'd fallen down. He didn't let them out of the hug straight away. He was too busy laughing. "I always knew you two would fall for each other."

Thor was surprisingly easy. He was big. Like huge. That was definitely enough to put most people off - but Bucky had been able to figure out his weakness pretty quickly. Skills the Winter Soldier let him have. To get to the Norse God you had to know the way to the Norse God's heart. The Norse God's heart turned out to be a big box of pop tarts.  
He liked to watch the toaster while he waited. _He would not be bested by the spry metal food bringer_ \- no matter how funny it was to watch him jump at the sugary treats when they were done. There were enough pop tarts in the big box Bucky had given him to ensure he'd be there when the toaster bested Thor again.  
 _Tring.  
_ Thor jumped. Bucky dived forwards. Thor settled down to confusion as the super soldier hugged him.  
" _Shh"_ Bucky soothed. "We're all here for you."

Most of the Avengers were gathered around the table in the kitchen, coming and going for breakfast in the morning. Nat was frying eggs and bacon. Bucky stared at her over his cup of coffee. The Avengers knew better than to mess with Black Widow in the morning – but Bucky needed a good plan to get her hug in. She _had_ pinned him to the floor when she'd targeted him in the first round of this hug war. This needed to be good.  
She knew what he'd been doing. She knew he'd come for her soon.  
"What are you staring at?" She didn't even look at him to ask the question, but she knew he'd been looking at her. Bucky sighed.  
"Natasha, I'm in love with you."  
Every single Avenger in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at them. Tony made and _ooooh_ noise. Steve's eyes went wide. Sam sat back and beamed.  
"He did not." Clint sounded like he wanted to add a snap of his fingers to the end of his sentence. The one with the least reaction was Natasha. Who turned to him with the same expression. Even so, Bucky could tell he'd stopped her short.  
"What?"  
Bucky smiled and took her in a hug. He lifted her off her feet and the frying pan clanged. Nat realized what had happened and grunted as he span her around.  
"You can't tell me you saw this hug coming in that moment."  
"Shut up, Barnes."  
Bucky chuckled.  
"I win."

 _Tick Tock. Tick Tock.  
_ Clint Barton was a snorer. Clint Barton was a master assassin who was trained to notice everything in his surroundings. Even in his subconscious. Bucky knew this was a risk – but he _was_ the Winter Soldier. He stood in the shadows. Hidden. Unblinking. Silent – even if he didn't need to be. Clint's hearing aids were out even if he hadn't bothered to change from his gear before falling asleep.  
Clint grunted and rolled over. He fell back to snoring. Bucky rolled his eyes and threw a roll of socks at him. Clint shot up, rolling towards his bow and arrow Bucky kicked them away. Clint was ready to attack. Bucky took a few blows until he could trap Clint's arms under his own. Making do with a hug from behind. It still counted. Clint slouched. Bucky patted his shoulder.

"Is that today's paper?"  
Bucky had his hands in his back pocket as he approached Sam, who leaned against the kitchen counter. Sam lifted his head slowly, looking at Bucky like he was an idiot.  
"No. It's from 1943. Is this ugly guy you?"  
Bucky just rolled his eyes.  
"You're funny. Can I read it after you?"  
Sam smiled like it was Christmas. Again, it grew slowly, but when it was there he flourished his arms out as he threw the newspaper out of the open window. Bucky smiled back. Sam didn't have time to wonder why Bucky was enjoying being on the wrong end of their pettiness war this time, he was too busy being smothered by his flesh and metal arms. He realized what had happened. He slumped. Defeated. He'd lost this round. It was over. He shook his head to grumble out his response.  
"I hate you."

Scott was having a relatively normal day. He'd forgotten what they were like…boring – apparently. He'd been walking aimlessly around the shopping market for what felt like eternity and had already forgotten what he'd come in for. He didn't realize he was walking past the plums when Bucky Barnes appeared through the crowd like the ghost he'd once been. Scott was clutched in a hug. He should have known better. He was still stumped.  
"Err…"  
Bucky said nothing. The silence stretched on. Scott thought he'd spent eternity shopping. He was wrong. That hug was eternity. Bucky eventually pulled away and clapped him on the side of the head with a small smile. He left without a word.

Bucky was apprehensive in targeting Tony.  
Stark was gradually warming up to Bucky, sure. Sometimes he went a whole day without reminding him that he'd killed his parents. Even so, there were still boundaries there - and Bucky was seriously thinking about breaking these boundaries _big time._  
That was the sort of thing he contemplated in the three hours he lay under Tony's mess. Stacks of papers and books and tools and empty bags of chips in his lab. Tony had only gone up for coffee. From what Bucky heard from above he'd gotten into a spat with Steve about something. Maybe about coffee grains. Maybe about patriotism. It was always a mixed bag with those two.  
When Tony came back to his studio he was mumbling about Steve's _stupid arrogance and shinning blue eyes._ He only stopped when he noted the metal arm amongst his pile of trash. _That hadn't been there before._  
"Huh - ?" Tony barely got his confusion out before Bucky pushed himself from the table. The papers and screwdrivers and soda cans scattered the floor as Bucky flung his limbs around the infamous Iron Man. Tony staggered back. The man who always had something to say was speechless as Bucky dropped his legs from his body. He smiled sheepishly when he let go completely. Slowly, Tony turned red. Within a second Bucky was being chased up the stairs by an angry man with a drill.

 _Maybe_ Bucky did this to save face in Avengers tower. Maybe he did it because he much preferred the _magical hug_ legacy to the Winter Soldier one.

* * *

 **AUTHORS NOTE 2: It's late. I've read this through a few times but will still come back to give it a proper edit. For now it'll do. Feedback is always welcome! Cheers for reading!**


End file.
